Good Hope Country Day School (GHCDS) Varsity Sailing Team travelled to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy on Oct. 19-20 to participate in the Lawrence A. White Regatta. This annual event brings high school sailing teams from all over the country together to compete at the Academy’s first rate sailing facility. After two days of sailing and 28 races, GHCDS finished sixth out of 22 teams. The team coach is Chris Schrieber and the team advisor is Duane Minton.
Led by team captain Mack Bryan with Thorn Nelthropp in A Division and Harry Hoffman sailing with David Kleeger in B division, the sailors raced in both International 420 and Flying Junior class dinghies. High School National Champions, Junior National Champions, and a 420 Class champion were among the sailors racing. The diverse fleet, with teams from as far as Florida and Minnesota, enjoyed classic New England Fall conditions, with temperatures in the 60’s and light to moderate winds—pleasant for New England, but a bit chilly for Virgin Islanders. Teams raced simultaneously in two divisions of 22 boats each, with the team scoring the lowest point totals (based on finish positions in each race) awarded as the winner.
Saturday morning racing was delayed as sailors waited for the wind to fill in. Around mid-morning, a light southerly breeze built up, and the fleets were able to leave the docks. After six races in each division, the team sat in second place overall– a fantastic showing for a group who is used to much smaller fleets.
Sunday started out with a puffy and shifty northwesterly, gradually dying off to a very challenging light west wind. Eight more races were sailed in each division. When the final tallies were added up, only 20 points separated third from sixth place—an exceptionally close grouping.
In addition to the sailing, the team had the opportunity to tour the Coast Guard Academy, which was an opportunity for college bound students to evaluate the school.